Best Vehicle for Transporting Bikes

Best Vehicle for Transporting Bikes?

A van to wheel them in or an estate car to put them on top?

I’ve got a BMW 3 series estate and pop them in the back. Roof racks / my back don’t suit a 40lbs XXL DH bike.

Van, obviously! Estate car or anything else like a pickup not even in the running!

A van, always. Don’t get covered in crap from the roads in winter, can leave them tucked away when going for post-ride food, room to get yourself changed in the dry after riding, no nice upholstery to get muddy/damaged, bike can be washed before heading home and dry by the time you get there, no taking wheels off, takes seconds to load and go and I could probably go on

Van

pickup is a lot less hassle for carrying multiple bikes than a van as they’re held fairly securely without the need to use tie-downs etc. probably gets my vote

Is a pick up a possiblity? How do you stop them bouncing out?

Towbar rack not an option?
Far better than a roof-rack IMO.
Easier to put bikes on, easier to lock/secure, doesn’t affect your mpg as much.

Van, like a pick up, but far more secure.

Middle ground, Berlingo/Partner car, seats out and rubber lining in the back. MTB fits in with wheels on.

Not much street cred though.

There is absolutely no substitute for wheeling a muddy bike straight into the back of a van and just driving away. Locked up and out of sight. Extra levels of faff can and will be introduced depending how precious you are but it’s always the best option. I find a van that is worth less than my bike works best for maximum dilligaf.

I have a van with a towbar mounted bike rack. Sometimes the bikes go in the van, sometimes on the back. Depends how much other stuff I am transporting. I don’t miss putting them on the roof of the car.

Van. Or a Berlingo. We have both and the Berlingo is only slightly more awkward to wheel a bike in as you can’t stand up in it as easily as the van.

Towbar rack not an option?
Far better than a roof-rack IMO.
Easier to put bikes on, easier to lock/secure, doesn’t affect your mpg as much.

Drawbacks of rear mounted:

Wiring for light-board.
Bikes subjected to more road grime.
Car won’t fit in a parking space.
Weight hanging of the rear can be more noticeable.

Depends how many you travel with.

I’ve got a passat estate and can put my bike in whole with wheels on with seats down. So can fit 2 people in front and two whole bikes in the back.

With kids bikes I can leave one of the split rear seats up and fit 3 people and 3 bikes, with taking adult bike front wheel off and seat post out.

I dont want to drive a van / worse fuel economy etc.

What vehicle is best for carrying stuff….

A van.

However its compromised on comfort mpg etc

For light bikes a roof rack is the best solution outside of a van, imo. Can stay on there all the time, just lift bikes on and off you go. No faff mounting carriers, light boards, taking wheels off, dirtying interiors.

Not suitable for heavy bikes though.

Oh yeah easy access to boot also

I don’t like driving vans so for me estate car. Seats down and thick rubber mats. Lob bikes in back with an old blanket in between them, job jobbed.

A van like car. We have a zafira B. In no way exciting as a car, but for the two of us, two bikes, loads of kit and the dog, it’s perfect. Doesn’t take much to turn it back into a car and because of all the windows, the wife is happier driving it than she would be a panel van.

Depends on your situation but for me it’s a van, no question and I don’t even own one at the mo.

Having also owned pickups/estates etc, trucks are easy to load, great for shuttling but zero security, advertises your bike to scum plus all the disadvantages of van (size/speed etc). Estates can fit a bike with just front wheel off but as soon as you add child seats it becomes a pain plus dirty bike in a car isn’t fun even with sheets etc.

If you do any decent amount of riding, with trips away, then a van makes life so much easier.

A van like car

Or a car like van! My wee Merc Citan (basically a Kangoo!) has 5 seats, back 3 are magic seats, fold flat, swallows any bike with wheels on, returns 53mpg (they claim 60mpg)

“best” bike vehicle – van. No question.

Best vehicle if you also commute to work in it, need a certain type of vehicle for work use, have family to transport around, do other non-bike related long journeys (fuel consumption, motorway speed).. it gets a lot more complicated.

Personally, large hatchback/small estate, with the ability to carry on the roof or in the boot.
Shortish trip and its muddy, on the roof. Long journey, security if you stop at a motorway services, in the back.
Drives better than any van, even the car like ones; better mpg and lower tax.

@mattbee Can you get a couple of modern long enduro bikes in the berlingo with wheels on? Same question to @Nobeerinthefridge with the Citan?

Was this question designed to split STW opinion?!

@dickydutch most questions routinely do that!

@Jordan, it’s XLWB Citan, my XL V2 Bronson wheels straight in, has 2/3 split magic seats that fold flat, one folded flat is enough room for one bike.

do other non-bike related long journeys (fuel consumption, motorway speed)

Motorway limit is 70 for vans. It’s A roads you have to be careful with

Also, I actually found long journeys in our Transporter (sadly gone) more comfy than a car. Twin captains chairs up front were good and you could actually change the way you were sitting way more than in a car. It was great (tested over 2,500 mile round trips to the alps)

Audi A6 Allroad . Looks like an estate but is really a van.

@Nobeerinthefridge Thanks for the info, looks spot on. Currently drive an old passat estate, XL HB130 goes in back with wheel off if just me or Thule backpack on back if two of us. It’s getting tired now and was thinking of an MPV type vehicle next, mainly for bike carrying ability.

Jordan, gimme a PM if ye want some pics.

Van: chuck bikes in, security for precious bikes, baws oot changing room, no faff.

Drives nice enough for me. I know when the time comes for me to go from 2 to 1 vehicles it won’t be the van that gets sold, despite being a committed petrolhead. I could live without a fun car, but I can’t live without my van. And my van does twice the mpg of my admittedly stupid car so will be cheaper to run…

fasthaggis
Member

Audi A6 Allroad . Looks like an estate but is really a van.

Really just an estate with slightly more ground clearance?

I suspect this won’t paste well, but if you’re interested in the usable space in a bunch of cars, this is my research. you really want something 1m tall and 2+m long to wheel a bike in, which limits you to a few of the things at the bottom..

edit: yeah pastes horribly due to a lack of control of fonts. copy-paste this into excel and it should work again.

car 2 seat length 5 seat length height width 2 seat liters 5 seat liters
signum 1900 960 750 900 1283 648
optima 1885 1090 650 1001 1226 709
old i30 1760 910 768 1058 1430 739
ceed 1855 1085 694 1025 1320 772
insignia 1880 1076 696 1055 1380 790
i40 1967 1132 718 998 1409 811
leon 1780 1040 772 1039 1428 834
carens 1812 1048 788 1026 1465 847
new insignia 1985 1174 707 1030 1445 855
mondeo 1931 1112 708 1105 1511 870
logan 1865 1105 800 1000 1492 884
kodiaq 1950 1125 726 1085 1536 886
Vectra 2001 1110 760 1056 1606 891
v70 1885 1095 726 1135 1553 902
octavia (2017) 1911 1089 826 1004 1585 903
mazda 6 1968 1091 747 1113 1636 907
v90 1935 1142 704 1135 1546 913
superb 2061 1110 822 1033 1750 943
touran 1660 1020 894 1036 1537 945
passat 1970 1155 800 1025 1615 947
mk3 mondeo 1979 1101 772 1127 1722 958
2011 e class 2010 1165 765 1100 1691 980
zafira 1800 1166 824 1059 1571 1017
c4 1864 1099 836 1159 1806 1065
smax 1975 1209 794 1130 1772 1085
tourneo 1450 910 1001 1195 1734 1089
old berlingo 1356 931 1006 1197 1633 1121
disco 1906 1110 950 1117 2023 1178
new m berlingo 1755 990 1000 1198 2102 1186
galaxy 2040 1236 900 1142 2097 1270
sharan 2005 1240 976 1090 2133 1319
t6 2565 1075 1264 1215 3939 1651
xl berlingo 1930 1265 1117 1196 2578 1690
grand tourneo 2175 1271 1140 1195 2963 1731

If you carry around a little folding step stool to give you a foot up you can also get bikes on the top of a Berlingo when you’re using the inside for carrying humans, a bed, or whatever. If it makes any difference to your needs, I found that the Berlingos came with 3 individual seats for the back, rather than a pair and a single like Peugot Partners and other similar ones.

I’ve been considering a Hyundai i800 as my next car as it seems to cover moving the family and assorted gubbins around alongside working as a bike van at weekends.

Anyone have any experience of them? I’ve been looking at 2019 versions if that makes any difference to the go for it/run for your life type of response.

Van every time. I had a little Transit Connect which was ace. Now have a Vivaro which is even better. I find it’s a really comfortable drive as well.

The ease of throwing a bike or three in the back of a van never gets old.

Aye mashr, was joking a bit ,but the room in the back with the seats down is cavernous. Mate has one with a tow bar rack.We usually end up not bothering with the rack and sticking both bikes inside.Old curtains for the win 😉